Author Archive

In October 2011, I began my internship writing for The Grid. I had always been interested in the potential that social media can provide as a platform for discussions about urban planning and design. Aside from this, I did not quite know what to expect from the experience. Six months later, I am leaving my blogging position at Global […]

During rainfall and snow storms, 27 billion gallons of raw sewage and stormwater are released into New York City’s waterways. These discharges are called Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOS). CSOs occur when treatment plants are overwhelmed by water flows that are more than twice the design capacity. A number of sustainable methods of stormwater management have […]

Creating and maintaining a website is a complex task that involves making decisions regarding design, branding, marketing, and content. How much should website maintenance cost? The answer is that the price is variable and dependent on a number of factors. Mostly, this depends on what maintenance of your website will cover, the total number of […]

A website is a critical component of any business, large or small. In fact, websites may play an even more critical role in the growth of a small business that may have less marketing resources than a larger company. However, the existence of a website for your business is not enough to ensure its growth. Like […]

“Here in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, we have 200,000 cars a day going through the Gowanus Expressway. Our community complains about asthma, cancer, respiratory disease … but the excuse for neglecting us is that it is too expensive to mitigate” -Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center Elizabeth Yeampierre’s words highlight a number of the environmental […]

With 468 stations and 842 miles (1355 km) of track, the New York City subway is one of the most extensive public transportation systems in the world. The layout of many of these stations prevents riders with motor, auditory, and visual disabilities from accessing these facilities with ease and thus creates a user-designer gap. Visually […]

According to the 2006-2009 American Community Survey, 43% of New Yorkers commute to work by subway or railroad. New York City’s real estate market will be increasingly shaped by proximity to subway and rail lines, especially in light of the Bloomberg Administration’s commitment to the expansion and improvement of transit infrastructure. Investment in public transit […]

A number of non-profit and community-based organizations have been exploring New York City’s potential to be a center for urban agriculture. Added Value and the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn, New York have been working to foster community development and sustainability in a number of innovative ways. Eagle Street Rooftop farm is a 6,000 […]

School building design and quality, and its relationship to student achievement is a growing area of interest for architects, urban planners, and designers. However, in New York City, when educational performance is assessed by administrators, building quality and design are rarely taken into consideration as detrimental factors. In addition, schools located in low-income neighborhoods tend […]

Each year, New York City’s network of Business Improvements Districts (BIDs) invests approximately $100 million worth of programs and services across the five boroughs. This network of 64 BIDs constitutes the largest network of its kind nationwide. Business owners, property owners, local merchant associations, elected officials, and urban planners have come to acknowledge the importance […]

Design for the Other 90%: Cities, an exhibition originally launched in 2007, focuses on how participatory design solutions are being used to address the needs of 90 percent of the world’s population that have historically been ignored by the professional design community. The exhibit, which opened at the United Nations in New York in October 2011 […]

Brownfields are underused or vacant plots of land that remain undeveloped because of fears that they may have been contaminated by industrial or commercial use in the past. These sites are not always actually contaminated. However, these fears often prevent property owners from obtaining financial support from banks and developers in order to reclaim these […]

Post 9/11, most of New York City’s disaster planning has focused on terrorism while failing to develop preventative strategies for combating natural disasters. As Senator Richard Brodsky pointed out recently, “All they’re thinking about is terrorism, and the net result is that the hurricane plan is embarrassing.” New York City is especially vulnerable to storm […]

On March 14th, 2011, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn announced the release of Vision 2020: New York City Comprehensive Waterfront Plan. This 10-year plan focuses on simultaneously increasing waterfront accessibility, promoting sustainability, and supporting the expansion of maritime industry. New York City boasts 520 miles of shoreline that have […]